Objective: The study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, endoscopic and histopathological findings of children admitted to the paediatric gastroenterology outpatient clinic for growth retardation.
Material and Methods: The study was carried out with 90 patients aged 2-18 years who presented to our paediatric gastroenterology outpatient clinic with complaints of growth retardation and underwent oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) because growth retardation persisted despite adequate caloric support (at least 3 months).
Results: The mean age of the patients was 11.11±4.27 years, 56(62.2%) were female and 52(57.8%) were under 12 years of age. Of the patients, 36.7% had mild, 47.8% moderate and 15.6% severe acute malnutrition, 22.2% stunting and 7.8% severe stunting. Associated dyspeptic symptoms were present in 34(37.8%) patients and celiac antibodies were positive in 20(22.2%) patients. Iron deficiency was present in 28.9% and B12 deficiency in 41.1% of the patients. The most common endoscopic findings were pangastritis (88.9%), duodenitis (61.1%), bile reflux (35.6%) and bulbitis (31.1%). Chronic Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) gastritis was found in 72.2%, celiac disease in 20.0% and reflux oesophagitis in 17.8% of the patients. No association was found between chronic H pylori gastritis and iron deficiency anaemia and vitamin B12 deficiency (p=0.90, p=0.89). There was no association between chronic H pylori gastritis and height-for-age, weight-for-height and BMI z scores (0.31, 0.57, 0.43).
Conclusion: In this study, positive endoscopic findings were found in all children with persistent growth retardation despite adequate caloric support, even in the absence of accompanying dyspeptic symptoms. More studies evaluating the usefulness of endoscopy in children with growth retardation are needed.

Keywords: Child, growth retardation; endoscopy

Büyüme geriliði olan çocuklarda endoskopik ve histopatolojik bulgular

Amaç: Çalýþma, büyüme geriliði nedeniyle çocuk gastroenteroloji polikliniðine baþvuran çocuklarýn klinik özelliklerini, endoskopik ve histopatolojik bulgularýný tanýmlamayý amaçlamýþtýr.
Gereç ve Yöntemler: Büyüme geriliði şikâyeti ile çocuk gastroenteroloji polikliniðimize başvuran ve yeterli kalori desteði (minimum 3 ay) verilmesine raðmen büyüme geriliði devam ettiði için Özofagogastroduodenoskopi (ÖGD) yapýlan, 2-18 yaş arasýndaki 90 hasta ile çalýþma gerçekleþtirilmiþtir.
Bulgular: Hastalarýn yaþ ortalamasý 11.11±4.27 yýl olup, 56'sý (62.2%) kýz idi ve 52’si (57.8%) 12 yaþ altýndaydý. Hastalarýn 36.7%’si hafif, 47.8%’i orta, 15.6%’sý aðýr akut malnutre idi ve 22.2%’sinde bodurluk, 7.8%’inde ise ciddi bodurluk mevcuttu. Eþlik eden dispeptik semptom 34(37.8%) hastada vardý ve 20(22.2%) hastada çölyak antikorlarý pozitifti. Hastalarýn 28.9%’unda demir eksikliði, 41.1%’inde B12 eksikliði vardý. En sýk görülen endoskopik bulgular pangastrit (%88.9), duodenit (%61.1), safra reflüsü (%35.6) ve bulbit (%31.1) idi. Hastalarýn 72.2%’sinde kronik Helikobakter pilori (H pilori) gastriti, 20.0%’sinde çölyak hastalýðý, 17.8%’sinde reflü özofajit saptandý. Kronik H pilori gastriti ile demir eksikliði anemisi ve B12 vitamin eksikliði arasýnda iliþki saptanmadý (p=0.90, p=0.89). Kronik H pilori gastriti ile yaþa göre boy, boya göre aðýrlýk ve VKÝ z skorlarý arasýnda iliþki yoktu (0.31, 0.57, 0.43).
Sonuç: Bu çalýþmada yeterli kalori desteði verilmesine raðmen büyüme geriliði devam eden çocuklarýn tamamýnda, eþlik eden dispeptik semptom olmasa bile pozitif endoskopik bulgu saptandý. Büyüme geriliði olan çocuklarda endoskopinin yararlýlýðýný deðerlendiren daha fazla araþtýrmaya ihtiyaç vardýr.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Büyüme geriliði, çocuk; endoskopi